Get Your Marketing Mojo Back with Milana Leshinsky

In This Episode

• [00:44] Stephan kicks off the episode by introducing the incredible Milana Leshinsky, a visionary in the world of marketing mindset.
• [03:27] Milana introduces her groundbreaking Marketing Mojo method card deck and shares surprising reasons why marketing feels so hard—and how to change that.
• [05:11] Milana and Stephan dive into EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and its role in breaking free from limiting beliefs holding you back.
• [10:32] Milana reveals how to uncover your natural marketing style and leverage your strengths to attract clients effortlessly.
• [17:13] Milana unpacks how teaching can show up differently across marketing channels and shares strategies to develop big, bold ideas for your campaigns.
• [19:40] Milana and Stephan have a candid discussion about how personal insecurities can impact your marketing effort results—and how to move past it.
• [24:12] Milana takes us back to her roots, sharing stories of growing up in the Soviet Union and how those experiences shaped her relationship with money.
• [34:31] Milana breaks down the fear of launching that holds entrepreneurs back and reveals how to confidently move past them.
• [52:02] Milana shares how to connect with her, gain access to her resources, and take the next step toward marketing clarity and success.

Jump to Links and Resources

Milana, it’s so great to have you on the show.

Thank you for having me, Stephan. It’s my pleasure. I can’t wait to see where we take the conversation because marketing is such a big area of study and practice, and I’m excited to see what we talk about.

Yeah, me too. You don’t remember because we talked about this before the recording, but we met in 2015 when you were co-running JVX and the JVIC Mastermind Group, and that was a really cool event. So, if I recall correctly, it was at the Hotel Irvine.

Yes, that was definitely one of the locations where the event was hosted. 

Yeah, great job with that. And now we know each other through another completely virtual mastermind. JVMM. That’s Dov‘s mastermind, and he’s also been a guest on this podcast. And I’ve had a number of fellow masterminders on this podcast over the years. So, thank you for being on.

Thank you.

So, let’s talk about this card deck that you came up with, the Marketing Mojo Method deck. It’s taking a different angle from what I normally see in terms of course materials and workbooks and all those sorts of learning and guiding materials that help a marketer. This is a different kind of thing I hadn’t seen before, and I’m curious how this came about.

We will go into business to help people, transform lives, and build communities.

I actually don’t see a lot of card decks. And just to show you a card deck for those people who are new to it, there are 44 cards in there, and each card is almost like a mini coaching session. Or the whole thing could be a marketing workshop, which is exactly how I’ve been using it. But I’ve been looking for some type of non-intimidating marketing training product to help my clients, and the idea came to me after having worked with clients and taught them how to market online. I work with life, business, and career coaches; I’ve been doing this for over 20 years. Marketing is the least enjoyable thing for coaches to talk about and for people to do in the coaching space and any service space because we don’t go into a business to become a marketer. We never meant to become a marketer. We go because we like to coach. 

After all, we like to cook, do accounting, offer massage, and do whatever we do as solopreneurs or service professionals. Marketing is never part of the agreement that we make with ourselves. We’re going to go into our business to market. No, we said we’re going to go into business to help people, transform lives, build communities, whatever it is. Right?

So, marketing has always been a challenge for my clients, and it’s interesting because everybody wants strategies. Just give me strategies; let’s create a marketing plan; I’ll do it, and then they won’t do it. I started looking at that from a different perspective.

In addition to being a business coach and a software company owner, I also became a certified EFT practitioner. For those who are not familiar with it, it’s emotional freedom techniques where people tap on different parts of the top of their body, such as manual acupuncture or hypnosis. It’s a very metaphysical energy that speaks healing. I’m not very much into woo-woo, except I discovered EFT when I was having panic attacks, and it really helped me. And when I started using it with my clients during coaching sessions talking about business, I started seeing shifts much faster. And so as a result of that, this card deck contains all the things that my clients have told me about marketing.

And by the way, I just want to talk about EFT; I experienced that power over a decade ago. I was in Africa on a trip with Tony Robbins, a platinum partnership. He wasn’t on that trip, but people paying him the big bucks were on the trip, and I was in that group. We were meant to fly in an ultralight or a microlight above Victoria Falls. This is in Zambia. And this is like a hang glider with a motor attached to it. And it had a pilot, so I was behind the pilot. But this was terrifying for me because I had a fear of heights and water.

I never learned how to swim. And we were supposed to be in the Zambezi River in canoes, and hippos, alligators, or crocodiles were in that river. It’s very dangerous. So I was pretty freaked out about the whole thing. This EFT expert, Fred Gallo, was brought on the trip to work with us if we had any kind of fear about any of the stuff that we were about to do. And the guy worked with me for about 45 minutes, and I was able to do all that stuff. That’s amazing. 

No amount of EFT will help you if you fall into the river, into the alligator’s jaws. However, it will help you alleviate any fears or anxiety around whatever it is you need to do. And I’m so glad you mentioned that you’re familiar with EFT. My husband personally laughs at it. Well, he used to laugh, I should say, but he has seen me tap my anxiety away or tap my anger away. You know, if we had a conflict and I’m just really upset with him, and then 10 minutes later, I walk out of my office and am calm and pleasant to be around. So it definitely works. However, when it comes to marketing, people have a lot of negative beliefs about it based on their past experiences.

Well, actually, let’s talk about some of these negative beliefs about marketing.

What I do is I get on a call with a client, we might start working on their marketing or their business, and I ask them, how do you feel about marketing? And they’ll probably say something like, “Oh, it is the bane of my existence.” Or they’ll say, “I really can’t stand marketing,” or “I really find it overwhelming.” And then my next question is, “Tell me more.” And. As they talk, they reveal those negative beliefs. For example, they’ll say, “I really don’t like being pushy. It feels like I’m being pushy, and I really don’t like that being done to me, so I can’t do it to others.” Or they will say, “I hate watching how other marketers are marketing. They’re bombarding me with too many emails. I don’t want to be doing that to other people.”

Marketing isn’t a formula—it’s creativity and intuition.

Some of the things they’ve said, and I have the cards in front of me. My niche is so crowded I don’t even know how to stand out. My marketing goes unnoticed. I don’t know how to get people’s attention. People have said to me, “Well, the economy is bad right now, so nobody’s buying anything.” If that’s your belief, then your effort, actions, and behaviors will match that. You will continue struggling with marketing until you eliminate some of these things that you believe about marketing, what marketing represents, and how it should be done. 

What I started doing was creating reframes. Each card has a negative belief on one side and a positive reframe on the other side. It is not just a positive reframe but a paradigm-shifting statement so that they can see something different. At the bottom of each card, a question will get them to think more creatively and innovatively. I describe this method and why it’s called a method because it’s a marketing module method. Instead of approaching marketing from the left side of your brain, where you have to follow formulas, learn Google Analytics, track your numbers or develop a step-by-step funnel, you approach it from a place of creativity and intuition, so that gets people excited because it is the only marketing that will work.

Do you know what I’m going to say next?

No, I don’t. But I’m intrigued.

The only marketing that will work is the one that you will actually do.

Oh, yep, that makes sense.

And if there are marketing strategies that are the best out there and you don’t use them, they will work. So, I really believe that you want to get into the energy of excitement around your marketing possibility and creativity and then go deeper into the strategies that attract you and appeal to you. You know, I always say I really don’t like Facebook ads. I burn myself on Facebook ads. I lost so much money and so much time, and I don’t understand them. I am definitely not somebody who will sit and look through numbers, or as a former musician, I am somebody who values creativity and art and music. That part of my brain just doesn’t want to function as well as a lot of other people who do marketing. They thrive on those structures.

Marketing is a form of self-expression, an extension of one’s personality.

To me, marketing is a form of self-expression, an extension of one’s personality. So this card deck is really for people who love what they do but don’t love marketing. It opens them up and helps them see that marketing can actually be a lot of fun and a joyful part of their businesses and lives.

Well, I enjoy a lot about marketing, but I think I also get stuck in some non-beneficial patterns or negative beliefs. For example, I seem to be avoiding getting on YouTube doing videos other than podcast episodes. So we do a lot of shorts from the episodes. My team handles that. I don’t have any problem jumping onto a podcast such as this. What I don’t like doing, and I’ve been avoiding for years now, is creating content, just talking to the camera, walking people through all sorts of great processes, tools, frameworks, insights that I have, etc. I feel like I’m hiding a bit. So maybe you could cure me with one of your cards.

Maybe more than one. But I would be asking you, ” What is it about being on video that is uncomfortable or something that you don’t want to do?” But I am sensing that there is some kind of fear of visibility. I actually do have a card. It’s cold. You’re going to love this one. I don’t know if that matches.

You can see the fear of being on video. Oh, that’s funny, right? What does it say there? I feel nervous.

I feel nervous and self-conscious about being on video. What if I don’t look or sound professional? The thought of speaking on camera makes me anxious. I don’t know if that’s your actual thing.

It is kind of related because I feel like I edit myself while I’m recording. So if I’m recording just a solo video, I’m editing as I’m speaking and say, “No, I didn’t quite say that right now,” then I’m going to restate it, and then I’m going to start all over again with the whole new video because I kept screwing up that. And then I feel like, “Wow, this was a colossal waste of time.” I really should just be in conversation with people because I’ll just say stuff.

Then that’s absolutely okay because what you’re doing is you’re saying, I need to be doing video, and I want to be doing video. But this way of doing video doesn’t work for me. So then the question is, what way would make you feel more comfortable and confident and put you in the flow? Because I’m the same way. I would much rather have a conversation or be interviewed like we are today than sit in front of a camera and speak and then do 17 takes and still not be happy with that. But let me read the back of the card to you. I’m so afraid to be myself on video. So that’s the shift.

Being on video allows me to connect with my audience personally and authentically. It’s a chance to show my true personality and build trust with potential clients. I don’t need to be perfect, I just need to be myself. Whether I appear as a teacher, storyteller, motivator or entertainer, nobody is looking for a polished presenter.

Then, the question that would get you curious about the possibility is, and it’s at the bottom of the card, what topics or messages do I feel passionate about that I can share through video? Sometimes, people just don’t know what to talk about, which can also slow them down. But when Facebook Live came out, and I no longer had to sit in front of a camera to record a video, it was completely game-changing for me because I also don’t like that stiff type of video recording. I needed to be able to say mm and ah and not have to filter or edit myself. And if my dog barked, I wouldn’t panic because people don’t expect perfection when they know it’s life.

Marketing becomes magic when you release the pressure and focus on what you truly enjoy—creativity flows, and the process becomes pure fun. Share on X

And so it’s much easier that way. And so, yeah.

Do you still do a lot of live streams?

Actually, no, because I do webinars, and I do them on Zoom, and I do mini masterminds and little collaboration meetings. So I prefer being in a conversation with a group of people. I’m a former music teacher, and it’s much easier to come in front of a group or put a group together and facilitate and teach. I discovered that about myself years ago. That is my preferred method of sharing my message. I run group coaching programs, classes, and events, and that feels like I’m in my lane by doing that. So, finding your lane is very important. Knowing what your natural abilities are.

I’ve done Facebook Live, but it didn’t stick enough for me to be my go-to strategy. So, if you’re still not sure what your ideal marketing strategy is for you, you would ask yourself this question: If left to my own devices without anybody else telling me what I need to be doing, what would be my default go-to strategy?

Finding your lane is very important—it’s about knowing what your natural abilities are.

And for me, it’s teaching, so once you know that for other people, it’s networking or connecting, some people will say, “Oh, yeah, I have somebody I want to introduce you to. I have a friend who keeps doing that.” Instead of teaching or coaching me, she’ll go into the mode of I know somebody you need to talk to. That’s a clear connector. That’s what she needs to be doing as part of her marketing.

So, for you, it’s teaching. How does that show up? And besides, with you doing webinars and masterminds on Zoom, how does that show up in the marketing materials you produce, in the emails you send out, the social media posts you put out, all the videos you produce, everything? How is the teaching aspect being leveraged through all those different channels and modalities?

Well, you know how sometimes you receive emails from people, and they tell you a story, and it’s inspirational? Right? Now, that is a difficult thing for me to do. And I have to become very aware that I need to share a story or example because my default marketing writing style or speaking is to share something that is a lesson with a message or a moral. For me, I need to have a point. I can’t just talk about something or share a story unless it connects to something that I want them to get to. So, in any webinar I teach, there is a message, or I call it the big idea. Until I know what my big idea is, I can’t put together a webinar or class.

I do virtual summits a lot. While I see other people doing virtual summits by simply gathering big names and interviewing them, I need to have a message behind it. For example, I had a summit called the Scalable Coach Experience. In order to become scalable, you need five things, and then each day, you cover the scalability of a coaching business.

I’m curious what those five things are.

Well, for coaches, it’s definitely. One of them is having a program. Another one is having an audience. Another one has systems. Off the top of my head, I probably did the event two years ago.

That’s pretty good, though, to rattle off three of the five. Two years ago. That’s awesome.

I can’t remember what else we did, but I’m pretty sure that it’s the mindset that should be another one. I think we covered it on one of the days, probably on day five, because that’s the piece that’s holding people back. Very much like this card deck is. I don’t know if you’ve ever bought courses and they gave you everything you needed to do, but you didn’t do it?

Yeah, many.

Right. So, I recently paid a lot of money for training on a particular topic, and although I got the strategies, tactics, and plans, the mindset and the fears were not addressed. So, I really was not very successful with that particular thing. I’m going to call it VIP Day because the mindset wasn’t part of it. And so I’ve become really aware of the fact that even if you have all the strategies and somebody gives you a plan, but you have certain fears or negative beliefs around a topic, something that maybe happened to you as a child like I was bullied as a child. 

So, I have carried it through my life. Until and unless you address something that you have experienced that was traumatic, it is going to hold you back in your business, too. I don’t want to make it; this is too bold of a claim, but I secretly believe that if you were to use my card deck and overcome all of these negative beliefs, you would be on your way to healing your traumas. Whatever happened to you? Because when we’re marketing ourselves, all of our insecurities come out.

Not only will you overcome your negative beliefs around marketing, but you will also begin healing any traumas and insecurities acquired through your life experience.

Like this card says, “I don’t have enough value to offer.” Well, I’ve seen people sell crappy products and programs. They don’t have any qualms about it. They don’t feel like they don’t have enough value to offer. But a lot of coaches do. So, I’m not sure I have a lot of value to offer. What if my knowledge and skills aren’t enough to attract clients and help them with their needs? And on the back, it’s a reminder that you are actually sitting on a gold mine. You may not be aware of it, but that belief definitely comes from low self-image, low self-esteem, underappreciating, and undervaluing yourself.

That comes from something that was said to you as a child or something that you experienced as a child or as a younger person. So yeah, I’m thinking not only will you overcome your marketing beliefs and negative beliefs around marketing, but you will also be on the way to healing whatever traumas and insecurities that you have acquired through your life experience.

Wow. It’s so funny you mentioned that because my last interview on this podcast was with Juliet Wright, and we ended up on a tangent. She was talking about an 8-year-old kid being driven to church camp or driven back home or something like that. And she’s just talking, talking, talking about her experiences and everything. And her dad says, “Wow, who put a quarter in your ear?” And that messed her up for life. It was just a smart-aleck comment from her dad, but it really damaged her.

I don’t even know what that means. Is that last slang?

It was a snide remark, like, “Wow, who turned the on button on and forgot to turn it off?”

Oh, my goodness. So she was maybe too loud or vocal or something.

Yeah, just sharing too many things. It’s like he wanted peace and quiet or something. And then she felt like she was showing up too much in life, not just in childhood but through adulthood. One bad comment from a parent can really mess up a kid.

And kids really are sponges. They internalize things, and they hold onto those things. And so it takes later therapy or EFT or hypnosis or whatever methodologies to undo that damage.

Yeah, and it can be really like, in that case, he was being snarky or kind of nasty. But you could just say something that you think is a compliment, but it doesn’t compute for the kid, like, “Wow, you’re going to be such a heartbreaker when you grow up.” “Oh, I’m going to break hearts. Oh, no, that’s awful. I don’t want to hurt people. I don’t want to be that kind of a person.” And then they’re all messed up. And you’re trying to share a compliment.

Our businesses are a reflection of who we are—an extension of our personality and life experiences. You bring your entire journey as a human into everything you do. Share on X

You have to be super careful with what you say to kids or adults, for that matter. But yeah, especially kids. And then we have to go through therapy or whatever to fix it, to heal from it. But it’s all a blessing in the end. But, boy, getting through that.

It’s definitely. This is why I believe that our businesses are an extension of our personality and lives, especially if you’re a solo, professional, solopreneur service provider. You’re bringing everything that has happened to you as a human, and you’re bringing it into your business. You’re building your business in a way that accommodates all of those insecurities and fears. And the opposite. If you look at people doing really well and overcoming their fears and negative beliefs, they become unstoppable.

I’m sure everybody still has something to work on, but it’s because they’re moving forward, overcoming, and very aware of it. Growing up in the Soviet Union, we had a fixed income, and I often heard things like, “You don’t need this. We don’t have this.” I didn’t feel lacking. But I also never had the desire to have more than we did. I guess that would be the best way to put it.

So one might say, “Well, you had really negative beliefs about money.” I don’t know, did I? Because as I reached a million dollars in my business, I looked back and said, “Huh? What happened to all those negative beliefs about money and the lack?” And then I remembered that I read a book by T. Harv Eker called Secrets of the Millionaire Mind at some point early in my business. It was the first nonfiction book I read in English. And I read it from cover to cover. I was so inspired.

He tells you in the book. I don’t know if you’re familiar with that book.

I’ve heard of it, but I haven’t read it.

Harv Eker basically tells you that you need to love, admire, and revere rich people versus judging them or thinking bad things about them. So I was catching myself driving on the road, looking to the right and seeing a Ferrari and kind of like, “I’m blessing you,” as opposed to, like, “Dang it, how can he afford that car?” Right? Versus having feelings of resentment or judgment. I would be like, “Wow, he must be really smart or hardworking or something.” And that probably most definitely impacted how I think about money. And it’s actually an amazing thing to make a million dollars.

Yeah, that’s awesome. I think of everything as a blessing or a miracle, and even the stuff that we don’t want to have happen that looks like a challenge or a tragedy or whatever, as a disguised blessing or a hidden blessing. I just need to get the perspective of the bigger picture, which the creator has, and I don’t because I’m just a little human here. But I can ask and pray for more guidance, insight, perspective, and faith so that I can get more of the lessons and messages from those challenges. And you mentioned earlier that you were bullied as a child. I’m curious to hear if you see that now as a blessing or at least a blessing in disguise. And if so, how have you worked that blessing into your adult life and into your business?

We’re still talking about marketing, right?

Yeah, I learned this from Tony Robbins. I’m sure he got it from somebody else. But everything in business boils down to two things: marketing and innovation. So, yeah, we’re still talking about marketing.

Yeah. Well, no, I’m so glad you said innovation because that’s the one thing that I teach at this point: to really stand out in your niche because every niche is crowded. It’s 20 and 25, so every niche is crowded. How do you stand out? Well, innovation is a big part of it, so I’m so glad you mentioned that. I think I was bullied between the ages of 7 and 14 for 7 years of my grade school. And then I was bullied so badly that I actually decided to leave school and go straight to college. There was an option to stay two more years in high school or go on to whatever trade school you chose.

I already knew that I was going to be a music teacher, a musician. I left in eighth grade. And suddenly, all the bullying stopped. I was in a new environment with new kids and people, which was very confusing. I didn’t change as a person over the course of one summer. I graduated from middle school and went to music college. All bullying stopped. Suddenly.

The only marketing that will work is the one that you will actually do. Share on X

People started liking me, talking to me first, and inviting me into their group. My mom explained to me that these are just different kids, maybe more culturally inspired or advanced, and they are more into art and music and things like that. But I think what it has done to me is my confidence as a musician because I was one of the top students in my school and my class, which helped me. Music became a source of confidence for me. So what happened over the years and translated into my business is I became very attuned to people’s behaviors and emotions because when you’re bullied, to protect yourself, you need to kind of gauge what they are thinking about or what they are feeling or how they’re acting, and what does that mean to you and to your safety. So, I think I’ve become very much attuned to other people’s behaviors and emotions. So, it made me more sensitive in general.

My kids always tell me that I’m very sensitive, whatever that means. I think we’re all sensitive in our ways. But it also made me a better marketer, a better copywriter, a better teacher, and a better facilitator. So, everything I do, I do through the filter of how people are feeling.

There’s a term, an acronym. I don’t normally hear it these days, but HSP (highly sensitive person). Are you familiar with that term?

I am. I don’t know if that would apply too closely because there’s much more to it. But I’m definitely more attuned to what people are experiencing and typically run group coaching programs. And I see 20, 30 people. I have to kind of hold all of their energy and create a space for everybody to feel heard, seen, and accepted. And what I’m being told is that I’m very good at that. I can watch people’s faces and see that even as I teach, I immediately feel like, “Oh, I need to pause.” I can see a few overwhelmed faces.

Let me address the overwhelm before moving forward. I’m just constantly aware of how people are experiencing my marketing and teaching.

That’s a superpower.

I do feel like that’s what it is. Yes, I am grateful and blessed to have that as a result of my childhood experiences. I think that’s where I enjoy the consequences of negative experiences in life.

Yeah. Well, that goes back to what we were talking about at the beginning of this episode. Positive reframing, negative stuff, beliefs, experiences, et cetera. That is a way to re-experience it in a better way. Being bullied as a child is actually a net positive for you because now you have the superpower that you wouldn’t have had if you didn’t have the experience.

Innovation helps you stand out in a crowded niche.

Yes. I remember somebody looking at my market and my emails, somebody who is not a business owner but a good communicator and a good writer, and he edited my work. And he basically took out all the words that had any hint of emotion, just kind of leaving the factual stuff. Right. I said, “What kind of marketing copy is this? This is never going to sell.” “Yes, I want to use the word.” “Really?” “Yes. I want to say fantastic instead of saying good or great.” So I write how I feel. I write how I talk. 

And I think that that part of copywriting as part of my marketing is really benefiting from projecting my emotion onto paper, so to speak. Right now, when it comes to telling stories, that’s a little different. I have become better as a storyteller, but it doesn’t come naturally to me. I actually have to remind myself, “Oh, wait, I need to start with a story,” or “I need to incorporate a story into this.” Because storytelling holds more tension in copywriting, it lightens up whatever you’re writing.

So it’s not as like, you know, here are the teaching points. It makes it easier to consume but is also more memorable and appeals to the other parts of your brain. So, I’m very aware that I need to get better at storytelling, teaching and inspiring. And what’s interesting is I never considered myself an inspirational speaker or inspirational teacher, but people were telling me, like, “When you teach, it’s very Inspirational.” And I don’t know exactly what it is. I do, but I think if I had to guess, I would say I just really connect to the person or the people in front of me, and I really want them to succeed.

My inspirational tone or words come from that place. What else do I need to tell them to stop feeling afraid of marketing or launches? I have a whole card. It’s called Fear of Launches because so many people are afraid of launching. I needed to create that card because I really believe in that.

Tell me more about that one.

Negative experiences can become business superpowers.

All right, let’s take a pause. A card. Pause. All right, here it is. Fear of launching. Launching is overwhelming. I don’t like being on the receiving end of launches with endless emails and deadlines, and I’m worried my launch will feel the same. Launches seem so complex and time-consuming, and the pressure to make sales is really stressful.

All of that is true. I’ve experienced this. But let’s look back and see if you suddenly start seeing launching as an opportunity to share your passion. In that case, it just changes things for you emotionally, and you connect to the idea of a launch a little differently. So, launching is an opportunity to share my passion. I can create a launch strategy that feels right for my personality and skill set, focusing on providing value to my audience. I don’t need to use every tactic; I can choose the ones that resonate with my audience and me. My launch can be as big or small as I want, and it’s an opportunity to connect with those who will benefit from working with me.

So I think the idea of a launch feels big to a lot of people. And so really creating your launch the way you want to create it is a mind shift you don’t have to follow, like the product launch formula video, or webinar. You can do whatever you want. So the question here, to open up possibilities for you and get you excited, is what aspects of launching excite me, and how can I focus on those to make the process more enjoyable? So, what parts of a launch do feel exciting? I love webinars. I don’t love creating a lot of affiliate marketing stuff. So I’m very aware of that. And I actually design my launches around my superpower, which is teaching and facilitating. I’ll do webinars.

I’ll do little collaborations, mini masterminds, or invite people into Zoom meetings. The other thing I don’t do is those strategy sessions. A lot of people do them, but to me, they’re overwhelming. They don’t leverage my natural abilities because that means selling, which is not something that I love doing. This is why I got so good at marketing: so that I don’t have to sell, which is funny because for many coaches, sales and marketing are in the same bucket. They don’t like either one.

Marketing can be so creative. But yeah, I mean, fear of launches happens because you feel the pressure of making sales. When you take the pressure away and focus on doing only the things that you really enjoy. Like, I really love teaching. I really love doing webinars. So let me do two webinars instead of one.

Launches can be an opportunity to share your passion.

Let me host a Q&A and a call because that is fun. Let me do a coachathon because that gives me an opportunity to coach people on the call, hopefully enroll them in the program, and inspire them to join. Does that make sense?

Makes total sense. Yeah. When I think about launches, I think about things like swipe files and email sequences, and it’s like, yuck. So not fun for me. If I could just pay somebody to do all that stuff, then I would do a launch.

But with ChatGPT right now, you can create a swipe copy in minutes.

Yeah, that’s true.

As long as you are clear about what message you want to share. And also, what is it that you are teaching? If you’re teaching, what is it that, like, I’m doing a three-hour workshop next week, and then the whole of January, I’m doing workshops? It is the same workshop. I’m doing it three times, and normally, I would absolutely dread the task of writing swipe files or email sequences, which is the same thing, but one is for partners, and the other one is for my audience. But once I had the workshop content developed, I just put that workshop into ChatGPT, and I said to write emails that promote this workshop. So, no, I didn’t just take it and copy it and send it to my partners, but it gave me a place to start with.

Yeah, it’s a good first draft.

It’s a good first draft. It allows me to not stare at a blank page, which is the hardest. And ChatGPT really analyzes your content to the point where it can pick up on things like, “These are the five things that you’re going to teach the most valuable nuggets of your workshop.” So yeah, I feel like with ChatGPT, it’s a whole new way of operating in launches, especially.

Yeah. As you mentioned earlier, you need a big idea before you can put something together, whether it’s a virtual summit, a webinar, a course, or whatever. How do you get the big idea? Do you go to ChatGPT for that? Are you doing some sort of meditation or relying on intuition, just popping into your head? How does that work?

You just tap. It could be part of it. For example, if you’re feeling stuck, just sit and tap, think about it, and start talking about whatever comes to mind. It is definitely going to help you arrive at some clarity. But if you’re not a tapper, that’s okay. I actually have a whole method for arriving at your big idea. During all the training that I do and all my programs, we spent two weeks identifying a big idea. A big idea is ultimately your trailblazing message.

It’s the message that will stop your ideal client in their tracks. Just picture somebody who is your ideal client, and they get all these messages. They’re bombarded with emails, advertisements, their peers, other coaches, and their books. They constantly hear something designed to help them solve their problem. And then suddenly, they hear something different and go, “I haven’t thought about it this way before.” That’s the big idea. When you can create an “aha” moment in your potential client’s mind, they automatically start seeing you as an authority and trusting you more. And they’re leaning in to see what that means and how I implement it. So, I have a formula that starts the big idea messaging.

To achieve X result, Y is not enough. You also need to do Z. So my big idea, for example, years ago, when I was teaching coaches multiple streams of income, was to be successful and to thrive as a coach. Coaching clients one-on-one is not enough. You also need to create multiple streams of income in your business. A very simple big idea. And what’s cool about that is now that you know my big idea, it doesn’t mean you can go and do it by yourself. You still need a coach, a mentor, a course.

You still need some kind of support to make it happen, right? And so that’s an example of a big idea. We went through a whole series of exercises and questionnaires to arrive at that. Because especially with coaches, coaches really believe they can help anybody. I’m sure you’ve encountered somebody surrounded by coaches like me, and probably coaches who believe they can help anybody. So, it becomes crucial in terms of marketing capability to identify what problem you are solving and how you are solving it differently or better than anybody else. And how can you stop people in their tracks? Because they haven’t heard this before, they will drop everything to register for your class to learn about that.

To circle back on this whole thing of a positive reframe and apply that to a big idea. What if you took, let’s say, a negative belief such as AI is killing the SEO industry, or SEO is dead? You know, because I’m an SEO expert, I hear all those sorts of doom and gloom naysayers talking, that sort of stuff, and positively reframe that into something that becomes a big idea that I could maybe do a webinar or a course on, or a mastermind or some sort of seminar or something. So what would be the big idea? Taking AI is killing SEO into account? What do you think?

AI can replicate your tone, personality, and unique experiences if you know how to use it.

First of all, before we get there, I just want to say, wow, I’m so impressed that you arrived at that. I actually arrived at that a little later, after I started marking my cards and using them in coaching sessions. I realized that every card and every reframe is a big idea. I did not know that when creating it, but you picked it up. For example, I have a card called the economy is bad right now because many people will say that to me. Nobody’s buying. And so the big idea on the back is to create my own economy. And then there is a whole thing about that. What does that mean if my service solves a big problem, I know I can get clients?

Here’s another one. I learned this from the lady who runs Money&You. She was a past guest on my other podcast. I can’t remember her name off the top of my head, but her wisdom nugget was that the money has not left the planet, right? So everybody is suffering. It’s the economy, like, blah, blah. It’s like, well, somebody’s making money,

Right.

Money is changing hands. Something is happening because the money hasn’t left the planet. And I just loved that explanation.

Yeah, people are still buying stuff regardless of the economy. You may need to adjust your prices or shift your offer. But you know, there are times when I think, if I were to start my business over again, the kind of business I would start would be with kids. Because I remember when there was the recession of 2008, the Karate School where I took my kids was as full as always. Because you can’t just take your kid out of karate school; if your kid is into karate and they’re passionate about it, you wouldn’t want to deprive them. So, anything where you don’t want to deprive your kids is an economy-sustainable business because parents are really protective of their kids and their well-being, mental and physical. And so yeah, I remember I was surprised the karate school was full.

So what was your question?

Yeah, so if this idea of AI is a negative belief, really, it’s not true, but this negative belief that AI is killing the SEO industry, if that is turned into a big idea, what’s the big idea? And by the way, I remember now who the lady is. DC Cordova. Yeah. And yeah, it was a great episode on Get Yourself Optimized on my other show.

Well, the big idea must start with a problem that you want to solve. It doesn’t necessarily start with a negative belief. It needs to start with what problem you are trying to solve. So AI, or for me, the problem was, oh gosh, I really dread writing so many emails for a launch like that was a problem. And solving that problem through AI is absolutely delicious because you can do it in minutes. But here’s the problem. Then the copy sounds really generic, and it doesn’t have your voice, and it can be not innovative enough because it didn’t come from your personal experiences or from your unique ideas. So, it’s too generic.

When people are fearful, it’s time to invest. – Warren Buffett

So that’s a problem because now you have a poor-quality copy. So, the big idea might be to use AI in your business. You really understand how to use it in a way that replicates your tone, personality, and unique experiences or reflects your personality and unique experiences. Only then will you be able to use AI successfully in your business? So the question is, well, how do you do that? That’s where you buy a course or hire a coach or a consultant who understands how to work with AI tools so that you don’t sound generic, so you can save a lot of time so that you can write a copy that is empathetic and connects with potential clients in a way that comes from your heart. Can AI really write from your heart? Oh yes, it can, absolutely. But you have to know how to use it properly.

Yeah, garbage in, garbage out. Yeah. So the problem, I would say, for this scenario of AI supposedly killing SEO is that people are fearful because of the uncertainty. So, uncertainty is the problem. There’s a great deal of uncertainty regarding how the Google algorithm works and whether Google’s even going to be a thing. Is ChatGPT going to replace Google or something? LLM is the replacement for Google, and we’re going to be prompted instead of searching. Therefore, all of the SEO tactics and strategies are no longer relevant.

The SEO agencies feel obsolete because, as I said, the problem is uncertainty. It’s not the same old game that we’ve been used to for the last two decades.

And then I would dig deeper into uncertainty about what? What is it that you’re trying to resolve? Are you trying to get more clients, fill your programs, and sell more products? And so, how does uncertainty impact you in that way? You would need to be more specific, which is actually the answer to being more successful with AI. If you’re using it for marketing material creation, you need to be more specific; you cannot be generic.

So if I were, let’s say, an agency owner, and I am an SEO agency owner, this is relevant to me if I’m trying to cope with this uncertainty and help my prospects and my clients with the uncertainty, because in an uncertain environment, they’re going to move their marketing dollars away from SEO to something that’s more of a sure thing, like paid search or paid social. And then my budget goes away, that my client goes away. So, I need to convey that when people get scared, it is the time to invest, right? That’s classic Warren Buffett, right? So when people are fearful, get out your wallet because it’s buying season.

That’s why there is so much AI training. As the CEO of an EO agency, I think the best way for you to move forward is to incorporate AI. Now that you are an AI-aided or guided SEO agency, you understand how to work with AI to improve SEO results even more. You’re not afraid of it; you’re embracing it because it’s not going to go away. Listen, 2024 has been a year of ChatGPT and AI in general. Sometimes, I ask myself how I used to do things before. I developed tools, programs, software, and assessments without AI. Just using human brain power, research and personal experience. And suddenly, you can go to ChatGPT and say, “Hey, create an assessment for me that identifies people’s sales type and sales ability type,” and it will create a great assessment for you with a scoring key and everything. We didn’t have that before, but now anybody and everybody can do that.

So, how do you stand out there? That, to me, is more interesting as the problem is like, if anybody and everybody can use AI to create tools, solutions, courses, products, and programs, how do you counter that, and how do you thrive in that? And I see the solution for me personally, for coaches, is more human contact. Yes, use AI. But now, if you create your course using AI, then it doesn’t really increase the implementation or the consumption. This is where you, as a coach, come in to support your clients. So, actually, I think coaches should be thriving even more right now because anybody can create content very quickly and easily. The question is, will they implement it? Will they apply it? Or will they get stuck and trapped in their mind’s trash?

Well, this was a very metaphysical episode. I’m glad that we went down these rabbit holes.

It’s ironic because I’m not a metaphysical person at all. Other than tapping, I have never done anything metaphysical. Usually, in any spiritual environment, I’ll be the first one to say I’m not that spiritual. Well, wait, I do tap.

Yes, you do. That’s awesome. And I’m glad we went down that detour of talking about that. So if our listener wants to get the card deck from you, if they want to work with you in a more coaching or involved capacity than just getting your deck, where should we send them?

If you want to get a deck, marketingmojomethod.com is the website, and you can see anything else I offer there. Coaching and tapping, if that inspired you to try it, are also available there. 

Awesome. And then do you offer coaching, VIP days, masterminds, or anything else for our listener who wants to work with you or in a larger capacity?

Yep, I do have group coaching programs. And as far as VIP days, we can talk to see what you want to do. But yes, I offer however I can support you. But the journey for me always starts with the card deck. Or, if you’re a coach and you’re looking to do group coaching, you might want to check out Coaching Genie. Genie, like the Magic Lamp Genie coachinggenie.com’s my coaching platform. My software is one of those things where I needed something but couldn’t find it, so I created my own. Coaching Genie is almost six years old now, and it’s a group coaching platform that makes everything easier. So that’s another platform, another way for you to connect with me.

And you also have your personal brand website.

I do. I don’t use a lot of it, but it’s my oldest website because I’ve had it since 2003. Milana.com, it’s there. But the two biggest projects that I am working on right now are Marketing Mojo Method and Coaching Genie. Those are the two that get most of my attention nowadays.

Yeah, okay, awesome. 

If you are looking for an EFT specific to marketing or business, I do have a website called milanataps.com, which is dedicated specifically to EFT. You can actually see what kind of results people are getting. When I started doing it, I was shocked that it worked because I didn’t know if it would work on my marketing mindset. I knew it was going to work for anxiety or fears, but in marketing and business, that was definitely a surprise to me.

That’s cool. That’s awesome. Congratulations on all your success. It’s really inspiring to see you take something that is not usually associated with marketing, such as EFT, and apply it in such a novel and useful way. So thank you for all that you do.

Thank you for having me, Stephan.

All right, and thank you, listener. Go out there and reveal some light in the world, and we’ll catch you in the next episode. Meantime, have a fantastic week. I’m your host, Stephan Spencer, signing off.

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Your Checklist of Actions to Take

Pursue what inspires and excites me. Marketing strategies only work if I actually implement them. Focus on those that appeal to me.

Align my marketing strategy with my natural abilities. Leverage what I’m naturally good at, whether teaching, coaching, or connecting.

Use tools like EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) to overcome marketing blocks that hold me back. It’s about aligning my energy with my marketing efforts.

Transform negative beliefs into positive actions. Reframe thoughts like “marketing is pushy” into “marketing is sharing my passion.”

Strategize with AI. ChatGPT and other AI tools can be fantastic tools for quickly creating marketing materials. To get quality output, input clear, specific instructions.

Focus on big ideas. Every marketing initiative should start with a big idea that solves a specific problem. This will differentiate me in a crowded niche.

Leverage live interactions, such as live stream or webinars. They create a more natural and authentic connection with my audience.

Heal subconscious blocks.  Address deep-seated fears and traumas that affect my business mindset and notice a smoother path to marketing success.

Don’t feel pressured to follow every conventional launch tactic. Design a launch strategy that leverages my strengths and feels right for me.

Visit marketingmojomethod.com to access Milana Leshinsky’s card deck and explore her coaching offerings.

About Milana Leshinsky

Milana Leshinsky is a business strategist, marketing mentor, and the creator of the Marketing Mojo Method card deck and Coaching Genie. This revolutionary software tool empowers coaches to deliver more value in less time. Milana came to the US as a music teacher from Ukraine over 30 years ago and enjoys Latin ballroom dancing, writing music, and creating inspiring card decks.